This is my strategy report on Palm, Inc. It has been a struggle for Palm to stay in the smart phone market with the constant stream of advanced phones coming out (Iphone, G1, etc) but Palm has drastically improved their devices in the past year to keep up with the wants and needs of Gen-Y users.
Profile
Palm is a smartphone manufacturer from Sunnyvale, California. It was founded in 1992 by Jeff Hawkins. With the help of Donna Dubinsky and Ed Colligan, Hawkins led the company towards developing their first mobile PDA (Personal Digital Assistant); the Palm Pilot. Originally only creating PDA's, Palm has now transitioned to solely creating smartphones for personal and business use. (Wikipedia, 2010)
Palm's revenue comes from two sources:
Smartphones - Starting out with the Treo line of phones, Palm now has one of the most advanced phones on the marked called the Palm Pre. This device includes many revolutionary features such as multitasking, open-source app development and it is highly customizable. The phone also features a brand new mobile operating system called WebOS.
Hand-held Computers - While Palm still offers customer support to the owners of their hand-held computing devices, they no longer manufacture them; however, a decreasing amount of the computers are still available at a few different retailers
Competitive Landscape
Palm's main competitors are Apple, LG, Motorola, and Samsung, and all of these companies produce smartphones. With the increasing demand for do-it-all smartphones, all of these companies must compete and develop new products at a rapid pace to keep up with Gen-Y's needs. The existing problem in the smartphone world is that; hypothetically, as soon as Company A comes out with something, it is very likely that Company B will use that existing idea, improve on it, and come out with something else a short time later. The ability to differentiate yourself from all other companies and be able to adapt to the changing wants and needs of the consumer is essential to be able to thrive in the business of smartphones.
Palm's Strategy
Palm's recent smartphone releases are clear indicators of what they are trying to accomplish within their market right now. They want to come out with brand new devices that look and perform better than their competitors. Whether this is true or not is up to you; but you really can't say until you've actually tried the new Palm Pre or Palm Pixi. Palm has incorporated a completely new operating system (WebOS, v1.4.0) (diTii, 2010) and also brand new features such as multitasking; which as of now, you can only get on these phones.
Gen-Y Implications
In order to appeal to Gen-Y, Palm must keep on track with what it is doing. Obviously the Iphone is winning the war of who can make the most popular smartphone, but if Palm keeps putting these innovative products on the market I believe they will steadily increase sales and build a stronger following. They recently just made their Pre and Pixi available on Verizon; which should greatly increase their popularity because Verizon is by far the most popular and widely used cellular provider to the Gen-Y population.
To: Proximity Mobile Users
From: James Hatton
Date: February 24, 2010
Subject: Palm, Inc Strategy Report
This is my strategy report on Palm, Inc. It has been a struggle for Palm to stay in the smart phone market with the constant stream of advanced phones coming out (Iphone, G1, etc) but Palm has drastically improved their devices in the past year to keep up with the wants and needs of Gen-Y users.
Profile
Palm is a smartphone manufacturer from Sunnyvale, California. It was founded in 1992 by Jeff Hawkins. With the help of Donna Dubinsky and Ed Colligan, Hawkins led the company towards developing their first mobile PDA (Personal Digital Assistant); the Palm Pilot. Originally only creating PDA's, Palm has now transitioned to solely creating smartphones for personal and business use. (Wikipedia, 2010)
Palm's revenue comes from two sources:
Smartphones - Starting out with the Treo line of phones, Palm now has one of the most advanced phones on the marked called the Palm Pre. This device includes many revolutionary features such as multitasking, open-source app development and it is highly customizable. The phone also features a brand new mobile operating system called WebOS.
Hand-held Computers - While Palm still offers customer support to the owners of their hand-held computing devices, they no longer manufacture them; however, a decreasing amount of the computers are still available at a few different retailers
Competitive Landscape
Palm's main competitors are Apple, LG, Motorola, and Samsung, and all of these companies produce smartphones. With the increasing demand for do-it-all smartphones, all of these companies must compete and develop new products at a rapid pace to keep up with Gen-Y's needs. The existing problem in the smartphone world is that; hypothetically, as soon as Company A comes out with something, it is very likely that Company B will use that existing idea, improve on it, and come out with something else a short time later. The ability to differentiate yourself from all other companies and be able to adapt to the changing wants and needs of the consumer is essential to be able to thrive in the business of smartphones.
Palm's Strategy
Palm's recent smartphone releases are clear indicators of what they are trying to accomplish within their market right now. They want to come out with brand new devices that look and perform better than their competitors. Whether this is true or not is up to you; but you really can't say until you've actually tried the new Palm Pre or Palm Pixi. Palm has incorporated a completely new operating system (WebOS, v1.4.0) (diTii, 2010) and also brand new features such as multitasking; which as of now, you can only get on these phones.
Gen-Y Implications
In order to appeal to Gen-Y, Palm must keep on track with what it is doing. Obviously the Iphone is winning the war of who can make the most popular smartphone, but if Palm keeps putting these innovative products on the market I believe they will steadily increase sales and build a stronger following. They recently just made their Pre and Pixi available on Verizon; which should greatly increase their popularity because Verizon is by far the most popular and widely used cellular provider to the Gen-Y population.
References:
diTii. (2010, February 27). webOS 1.4.0 for Palm Pre and Pixi on Sprint, O2 and more. Retrieved March 1, 2010, from D'Technology Weblog: http://www.ditii.com/2010/02/27/webos-1-4-0-for-palm-pre-and-pixi-on-sprint-o2-and-more/
Klein, T. (2009, 17 December). Palm Reports Q2 FY 2010 Results. Retrieved February 23, 2010, from Palm, Inc.: http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/PALM/856662176x0x339783/01fed3ff-f9df-4f99-91a8-0df65e60763c/Palm%20Q2%20FY2010%20Financial%20Results.pdf
Reuters. (n.d.). PROFILE: PALM, INC. (PALM.O). Retrieved February 23, 2010, from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?rpc=66&symbol=PALM.O
Wikipedia. (2010, January 23). Palm, Inc. Retrieved February 23, 2010, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm,_Inc.